ALTON — A city man who suffered numerous bites from a police canine in August only recently was released from jail, and now is focusing on clearing his name and fighting charges in the incident.

“I lost everything, I’m trying to get my life together,” said Aaron E. Crowder, 43, of the 700 block of Highland Avenue, Alton. “This has been a tragedy for me. I lost my business, I missed my birthday, I missed my daughter’s first day of kindergarten and my son’s first day of work.

“I didn’t talk to my kids for 60 days,” he said.

Staying in a group room in Madison County Jail in Edwardsville for more than two months was traumatic, Crowder said. “They fight for food, even a little box of milk, and there’s mold in there,” he said. “I was the oldest one on the block. They fought, they stink, they don’t believe in Jesus. It was a living hell.”

Crowder said he is afraid to stay in his native Alton, despite having three children living there. “I’m shaking now, I’m scared of Alton police,” he said. Crowder said he wants to move to another state where he has family, where he hopes to obtain a food truck. He has worked as a cook in several Alton-area restaurants.

His one-man business, Bella’s BBQ, 2700 Washington Ave., closed while he was locked up. He lost food, containers, seasonings and other goods in his absence.

“I’ve got to start over and get another chance in life,” he said. “I’m scared to be here now.”

Crowder’s mother, who also faces charges in the Aug. 23 incident on Highland Avenue, posted bail to get him out of jail on Oct. 28. He is charged with disarming a police officer, a felony; and resisting a police officer.

After his release from jail, Crowder contacted The Telegraph because he said he wanted to tell his side of the story. Of primary importance, Crowder said, is the police officer incorrectly thought he had an arrest warrant.

“I did not have a warrant,” he said. “I was the victim. I am thankful to my family and friends, and prayer from my church, Harvest Baptist Church.”

Chief Jason “Jake” Simmons, of the Alton Police Department, declined to discuss Crowder’s case with a reporter. “I stand by the officer and what was indicated in the report,” he said.

According to the incident report The Telegraph obtained after filing a request through provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, the officer who stopped his vehicle that morning at Brown Street and Highland Avenue believed Crowder to be another man wanted by authorities.

Crowder said he had been walking from his house on Highland Avenue down to his mother Pearl Carter’s home in the 700 block of Highland when he saw K-9 officer Pfc. Michael Morelli stop his vehicle. He claimed Morelli knew who he was, as Crowder had been in Alton City Jail on a drug charge that was dropped when Morelli was a jailer.

The police incident report says Crowder ran to his mother’s home. It details how Crowder allegedly disobeyed Morelli’s commands to lie on the ground after affixing a handcuff to Crowder’s right wrist. It says Crowder pulled away to resist arrest, with Morelli Tasering him twice.

“Aaron then used his left hand to grab my departmental issued Taser from my left hand, Aaron was able to pry the Taser from my left hand and threw it to the ground. I was able to maintain control of Aaron’s right hand as he continued to pull away from me,” the report says, and that Crowder tried to free himself.

Crowder, though, disputes that narrative in both the post-arrest police interview contained in the report, and with a Telegraph reporter.

The summary in the incident report quotes Crowder as saying: “Pfc. Morelli began walking toward Crowder and stating that he (Crowder) had a warrant for his arrest. Crowder tells Pfc. Morelli that he does not have a warrant and that the warrant has already been taken care of. Pfc. Morelli tells Crowder again that he has a warrant and that he needs to take Crowder into custody. Crowder then gives Pfc. Morelli one of his hands so Pfc. Morelli can cuff him at which time Pfc. Morelli places a handcuff on Crowder’s wrist.

“Crowder than claims for no reason he is pushed and pulled around by Pfc. Morelli while Pfc. Morelli is attempting to place the other handcuff on Crowder’s wrist; throughout the interview, Crowder denies resisting Pfc. Morelli and states that he never struck or attempted to fight Pfc. Morelli. Crowder further denies biting Pfc. Morelli or hurting him in any way. Crowder state he eventually voluntarily lays on the ground and places his hands behind his back so Pfc. Morelli could take him into custody.”

The former warrant had been for a misdemeanor domestic abuse charge from June.

During the incident, Carter, 77, came outside and “began screaming at Aaron for him to comply with my commands,” the incident report says, with Crowder allegedly reaching for the officer’s gun that was in a holster. It also says Crowder bit Morelli’s right index finger, causing the officer to deploy Jax, his canine partner.

The dog repeatedly bit Crowder, prompting Carter to hit the dog, then Morelli, with a thin stick that shattered, the report says. At that time, a delivery man stopped his vehicle and helped the officer subdue Crowder, it says. Carter was charged with aggravated battery to a peace officer and injuring a police canine.

Afterwards, staff at Alton Memorial Hospital emergency department stapled the dog bites on Crowder’s upper thigh, buttocks and arm. He said he has more than 50 wounds, which were painful and have left scars. “He was mauling me up,” he said of Jax. He also has a scar on his right wrist from the handcuff, which he said was too tight.

Court records say a judge has consolidated Crowder’s two charges into a jury trial set for Nov. 28. Until then, a judge’s order allows Crowder to travel to and from Florida for work as long as he attends court hearings.